A support assembly, method, and kit for holding items are described. A support assembly may include a mounting base and a support removably coupled to the mounting base. The mounting base may include a socket having a circumferentially undulating edge at least partially forming an internal head cavity. The mounting base may further include a through hole extending through the mounting base and the socket, the through hole in communication with the head cavity. A kit may include at least one mounting base as described and a plurality of interchangeable supports.
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23. A support assembly comprising:
a mounting base comprising:
a protruding socket comprising a circumferentially undulating edge at least partially forming a partially spherical internal head cavity;
a through hole extending through the mounting base and the socket, the through hole in communication with the internal head cavity;
a support removably coupled to the mounting base; and
a lateral through cap extending between an outside edge of the mounting base and the internal head cavity for allowing the use of a variety of supports.
1. A support assembly comprising:
a mounting base comprising:
a socket comprising at least two socket members at least partially forming an internal head cavity;
a through hole extending through the mounting base and the socket, the through hole in communication with the head cavity, and the through hole comprising at least two shank notches between and separating the at least two socket members;
a support removably coupled to the mounting base; and
a lateral through gap extending between an outside edge of the mounting base and the internal head cavity for allowing the use of a variety of supports.
24. A kit comprising:
at least one mounting base comprising:
a socket comprising at least two socket members at least partially forming an internal head cavity; and
a through hole extending through the mounting base and the socket, the through hole in communication with the head cavity, and the through hole comprising at least two shank notches between and separating the at least two socket members; and
a plurality of interchangeable supports for removably coupling to the at least one mounting base; and
a lateral through gap extending between an outside edge of the at least one mounting base and the internal head cavity for allowing the use of a variety of supports.
13. A support assembly comprising:
a mounting base comprising:
a protruding socket comprising four inwardly curved socket members each having a free end, the socket members at least partially forming a partially spherical internal head cavity;
a through hole extending coaxially through the mounting base and the socket, the through hole in communication with the head cavity, and the through hole comprising four shank notches between and separating the socket members;
a support removably coupled to the mounting base, the support comprising:
a ball-shaped head removably pivotably supported in the internal head cavity;
a shank coupled to the ball-shaped head and moveable into the shank notches;
a lateral through gap extending between an outside edge of the mounting base and the internal head cavity for allowing the use of a variety of supports; and
at least one holder coupled to the shank.
2. The support assembly of
3. The support assembly of
4. The support assembly of
5. The support assembly of
6. The support assembly of
a head removably pivotably supported in the head cavity;
a shank coupled to the head and moveable into the at least two shank notches; and
at least one holder coupled to the shank.
7. The support assembly of
8. The support assembly of
9. The support assembly of
11. The support assembly of
12. The support assembly of
14. The support assembly of
15. The support assembly of
16. The support assembly of
17. The support assembly of
18. The support assembly of
19. The support assembly of
20. The support assembly of
21. The support assembly of
22. The support assembly of
25. The support assembly of
26. The support assembly of
a head for being removably pivotably supported in the head cavity;
a shank coupled to the head and configured for being moveable into the at least two shank notches; and
at least one holder coupled to the shank.
27. The support assembly of
28. The support assembly of
29. The support assembly of
30. The support assembly of
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This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application to Loyd Melton and Jack C. Reabold entitled “TABLE HOOK W/SWIVEL FOR HANDBAGS, PURSES & THE LIKE,” Ser. No. 60/506,234, filed Sep. 25, 2003, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated entirely herein by reference.
1. Technical Field
This document relates to a support assembly.
2. Background Art
Conventional hanger devices are available that mount on structures and suspend items out of the way in a convenient place. However, these devices do not readily permit universal movement of their hangers. While some of these devices allow a swiveling (spinning) movement of their hangers, they do not also allow pivoting and swinging movements of their hangers from side to side to any position in the range of 0° to about 180°.
In an aspect, this document features a support assembly and method for holding items. The support assembly may include a mounting base and a support removably coupled to the mounting base. The mounting base may include a socket having a circumferentially undulating edge at least partially forming an internal head cavity. The mounting base may further include a through hole extending through the mounting base and the socket, the through hole in communication with the head cavity.
Implementations may include one or more of the following. The socket may include at least two socket members at least partially forming an internal head cavity. The through hole may include at least two shank notches between and separating the at least two socket members. The mounting base may include at least one fastener through hole disposed adjacent the socket. The mounting base may further include a lateral through gap extending between an outside edge of the mounting base and the internal head cavity of the socket. The at least two socket members may be curved inwardly at least partially forming a partially spherical internal head cavity. Each of the at least two socket members may include a bump on each side of the socket member protruding into an adjacent shank notch. The mounting base may further include at least two braces coupled between external surfaces of the at least two socket members and the mounting base. The support may include: a head removably pivotably supported in the head cavity; a shank coupled to the head and moveable into the at least two shank notches; and at least one holder coupled to the shank. The at least one holder may be one of at least one loop, at least one hook, and a combination thereof. The at least one hook or loop may be one of a single hook or loop, a single angled hook or loop, a double hook or loop, a treble hook or loop, and an inline series of hooks or loops. The at least one holder may include a brace coupled on a back thereof for keeping the at least one holder orthogonal to a mounting surface when the support assembly is installed thereon. The shank and the head may be removably coupled together. For example, a free end of the shank may include an aligning through hole. The head may include a shank-receiving hole therein and a pair of aligning through holes there through orthogonal to and in communication with the shank-receiving hole, the pair of aligning through holes corresponding to the aligning through hole in the free end of the shank. A removable fastener may be passed through the aligning through holes to removably couple the free end of the shank within the shank-receiving hole. The head may include a plurality of recesses therein, and the shank and the at least one holder each may form a cross-shape in cross section.
In another aspect, this document features a kit for holding items. The kit may include at least one mounting base as described previously and a plurality of interchangeable supports as described previously for removably coupling to the at least one mounting base.
These general and specific aspects may be implemented using a system, a method, and/or a computer program, or any combination of systems, methods, and/or computer programs. Additionally, the foregoing and other aspects, features, and advantages will be apparent from the DESCRIPTION and DRAWINGS, and from the CLAIMS.
Implementations will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended DRAWINGS, where like designations denote like elements, and:
1. Structure
Although there are a variety of support assembly implementations for holding items, with reference to
Referring to
Socket 14 may protrude from the top surface of the base portion and may include four, upwardly extending, inwardly curved socket members 16 each having a free end. Socket members 16 may be disposed in a symmetrical fashion adjacent main through hole 20. Socket members 16 may at least partially form partially spherical internal head cavity 18. Braces 28 may be coupled between external surfaces of socket members 16 and the base portion. Braces 28 support socket members 16 and maintain the integrity of socket 14 so that under a load head 32 cannot be pulled through internal head cavity 18 and out of socket 14.
Main through hole 20 may be a central through opening reinforced by a squat sleeve below internal head cavity 18 and concealed within the hollow interior of the base portion. Through hole 20 may extend coaxially through the base portion and socket 14. Through hole 20 may be in communication with head cavity 18. Through hole 20 may include four, substantially U-shaped, shank notches 22 disposed in a symmetrical fashion between and separating socket members 16.
Fastener through holes 24 may be recessed in the base portion and disposed in a symmetrical fashion adjacent socket 14, between socket 14 and the periphery of the base portion. Corresponding squat sleeves 26, concealed within the hollow interior of the base portion, reinforce fastener through holes 24.
Referring to
Shank 36 may be coupled to head 32 and may be moveable into shank notches 22. Holder 38, here shown in the shape of a hook, may be coupled to shank 36. Shank 36 and holder 38 each may form a cross-shape in cross section.
Recesses 34 in head 32 and the cross-shape of shank 36 and holder 38 lowers the weight of support 30 (thereby reducing its cost), allows support 30 to cool faster during manufacture (thereby reducing its cost), helps support 30 retain its overall shape and not warp during manufacture, and increases the strength of support 30.
Thus, as partially depicted in
2. Specifications, Materials, Manufacture, Assembly and Installation
It will be understood that support assembly implementations are not limited to the specific components disclosed herein, as virtually any components consistent with the intended operation of a support assembly implementation may be utilized. Accordingly, for example, although particular mounting bases, sockets, socket members, internal head cavities, main through holes, shank notches, fastener through holes, squat sleeves, braces, through gaps, bumps, supports, heads, recesses, shanks, holders, fasteners, and other components are disclosed, such components may include any shape, size, style, type, model, version, measurement, concentration, material, quantity, and/or the like consistent with the intended operation of a support assembly implementation. Support assembly implementations are also not limited to uses of any specific components, provided that the components selected are consistent with the intended operation of a support assembly implementation.
Accordingly, the components defining any support assembly implementation may be formed of any of many different types of materials or combinations thereof that can readily be formed into shaped objects provided that the components selected are consistent with the intended operation of a support assembly implementation. For example, the components may be formed of: rubbers (synthetic and/or natural); polymers such as plastic, polycarbonate, PVC, ABS, polystyrene, polypropylene, nylon, any combination thereof, and/or other like materials; reinforcements such as fiberglass, carbon-fiber, aramid-fiber, and/or other like materials; metals such as zinc, magnesium, titanium, copper, iron, steel, stainless steel, any combination thereof, and/or other like materials; alloys such as aluminum, and/or other like materials; any other suitable material; and/or any combination thereof.
Furthermore, the components defining any support assembly implementation may be purchased pre-manufactured or manufactured separately and then assembled together. However, any or all of the components may be manufactured simultaneously and integrally joined with one another. Manufacture of these components separately or simultaneously may involve extrusion, pultrusion, vacuum forming, injection molding, blow molding, resin transfer molding, casting, milling, stamping, cutting, welding, soldering, riveting, punching, and/or the like. If any of the components are manufactured separately, they may then be coupled with one another in any manner, such as with adhesive, a weld, a fastener (e.g. a bolt, a nut, a screw, a nail, a rivet, a pin, and/or the like), wiring, any combination thereof, and/or the like for example, depending on, among other considerations, the particular material forming the components. Other possible steps might include sand blasting, polishing, powder coating, and/or painting the components for example.
Accordingly, for the exemplary purposes of this disclosure, supports and mounting bases of particular support assembly implementations each may be formed as a single piece composed of several united components, thereby permitting each component to be made with high speed, low cost, rapid, mass production equipment. Furthermore, for the exemplary purposes of this disclosure, supports and mounting bases of particular support assembly implementations each may be formed of an ABS-fiberglass combination.
Referring now to
To use a support assembly implementation, it first is necessary to install it on a structure. Referring now to
3. Other Implementations
Many additional implementations are possible.
For the exemplary purposes of this disclosure, although there are a variety of mounting base implementations for support assemblies, for the exemplary purposes of this disclosure, mounting bases substantially similar to mounting base 12 as previously described may be provided. The principle difference between them is the number of socket members and shank notches. While mounting base 12 has four socket members and four shank notches, these alternative mounting bases may have two or three socket members and two or three shank notches respectively depending upon such considerations as versatility desired, application environment, load requirements, and the like for example. The two or three socket members, as well as the two or three shank notches, may be disposed in a symmetrical fashion adjacent the main through hole.
For the exemplary purposes of this disclosure, although there are a variety of support implementations for support assemblies, with reference to FIGS. 10 and 13–17 and for the exemplary purposes of this disclosure, supports 66, 120, 130, 140, 150, and 160 are examples of support implementations. Supports 66, 120, 130, 140, 150, and 160 are similar to support 30 as previously described. The principle differences between them relate to their respective heads, shanks and holders. The heads, shanks and holders may be formed as a single piece with the heads, shanks and holders united together. The shanks and holders each may form a cross-shape in cross section, or they may be solid and form a circular shape in cross-section, such as support 66 with its solid shank 70 and solid holder 72 (
For the exemplary purposes of this disclosure, although there are a variety of support assembly implementations for holding items, with reference to
For the exemplary purposes of this disclosure, although there are a variety of support implementations for support assemblies, with reference to
For the exemplary purposes of this disclosure, although there are a variety of support assembly implementations for holding items, with reference to
For the exemplary purposes of this disclosure, although there are a variety of mounting base implementations for support assemblies, with reference to
For the exemplary purposes of this disclosure, there are a variety of kit implementations for holding items. Kit implementations may include one or more mounting bases as described previously and a plurality of interchangeable supports as described previously for removably coupling to the at least one mounting base. Kit implementations may be in the form of storage racks.
Further implementations are within the CLAIMS.
4. Use
Support assembly implementations are particularly useful in residential garage storage applications to hold rope, electrical cords, power tools, hand tools, lawn and garden tools, bags, bicycles, and any other item that one desires to suspend out of the way in a convenient place. They can be installed on virtually any surface in the garage, such as the ceiling, a wall, under a workbench, the floor, and a door for example. However, support assembly implementations are not limited to uses relating to residential garage storage applications and the like. Support assembly implementations may also be used in a variety of applications with similar results, such as home, kitchen, and office storage applications, industrial storage and tie down applications, automotive storage and tie down applications, marine storage and tie down applications, restaurant storage applications, and the like.
Melton, Loyd, Reabold, Jack C.
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Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
Sep 07 2004 | Swivel Hooks International, LLC | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
Sep 10 2004 | MELTON, LLOYD | Swivel Hooks International, LLC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 015818 | /0134 | |
Sep 10 2004 | REABOLD, JACK C | Swivel Hooks International, LLC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 015818 | /0134 |
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